A1 · Sagnir · Verbs

Að koma — To come

Learn the forms. Complete the chart. Build sentences. Track your progress.

Að koma means “to come” — and, when someone is arriving, “to arrive”. Ég kem heim. I come home. Við komum frá Íslandi. We come from Iceland. In the present tense it has five forms — kem, kemur, komum, komið, koma — and the one you need depends on who is coming.

  • 5forms
  • 11pronouns
  • 100chart drills
  • 100sentences

The five forms

The chart

How to read it

  • There are 11 pronoun rows but only five different forms.
  • Ég kem has its own form. Þú and every singular third-person pronoun take kemur. Hán refers to one person and takes kemur, even though English singular “they” takes “come.”
  • Þú is one person and takes kemur; þið is more than one person and takes komið. Keep the final ð.
  • Ég kem is not the same as þau / þær / þeir koma. Við komum ends in -um.
  • Að koma is the dictionary form; koma is also the “they” form. Það kemur can refer to a neuter noun such as barnið (the child).

Choosing the form

Good to know

Come or arrive

Koma is movement toward the speaker, the listener or another place that matters: Hún kemur í dag. She comes (arrives) today.

Useful phrases

koma heim = come home, koma hingað = come here, koma inn = come in, koma til baka = come back.

From and to

frá Íslandi = from Iceland, til Íslands = to Iceland. Learn these as whole phrases — the phrase is always given and only the verb is tested.

Plans

With á morgun or í kvöld, the present tense can describe a planned event: Við komum á morgun. It is still present tense.

Questions and negatives

The verb comes before the subject: Kemur þú í dag? Hvenær komið þið? Ekki follows the verb and changes nothing: Ég kem ekki í dag.

Nouns as subjects

One person or thing takes kemur: Anna kemur heim. More than one takes koma: Börnin koma heim. Anna og Jón koma heim.